Two doctors of Mumbai's Parsi community to receive Nishan-e-Imtiaz for keeping secret Jinnah's illness
Two unnamed Parsi doctors from Mumbai are set to receive Pakistan's highest civilian award for keeping Muhammad Ali Jinnah's terminal tuberculosis secret. Officials believe this silence was crucial to the successful creation of Pakistan in 1947.
Why it matters
It reveals a historical footnote that potentially altered the geopolitical trajectory of South Asia during the Partition.
Two doctors — a physician and a radiologist — of Mumbai's Parsi community will receive Pakistan's highest civilian award — Nishan-e-Imtiaz — for keeping secret Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s terminal illness, according to a federal Minister.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal disclosed this in a post on X after the nominations for the civilian and military honours were announced on August 14. "I feel honoured to have had the privilege, as Chairman of the Awards Committee, of nominating for the Nishan-e-Imtiaz two remarkable doctors, a physician and a radiologist, both members of Bombay’s Parsi community, who faithfully guarded the secret of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s terminal illness,” he said.
Elaborating on the importance of their act, Mr. Iqbal said that any revelation about Jinnah’s frail health could have impacted the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
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